Harebrained (White IPA)
Somerville Brewing Company (Slumbrew)

Somerville Brewing Company "Hare Brained"
16 fl. oz can, "CANNED 03/15/18"
$2.99 @ Roger Wilco, Pennsauken, NJ

Notes via stream of consciousness: OK, so this is a "hoppy white IPA" which I'll assume means that it's like a Belgian witbier but without Belgian yeast and... it's hoppy? And an IPA? But at the same time it's just 5.0% abv.? Wouldn't the "hoppy" part be what allows you to call it an IPA even if it's not that strong? I digress, let's move on... it's poured a hazy yellow gold beneath a short head of creamy bright white foam. It certainly looks like a witbier. The aroma is yeasty, grainy, wheaty, a bit spicy but more peppery than coriander-like, citrusy and tropical, and lightly piney. I thought it would have a more intense hop aroma but this can is a little old so I have to give it a break - and thanks to Roger Wilco for screwing me over with old beer. This is supposedly brewed with Mosaic but the label doesn't say it's 100% Mosaic, and I'm not really getting that although now that it's warming a bit I am getting more of that berry aroma... let's look at the flavor... well there's even more of that berry flavor that I associate with Mosaic there (everyone gets it differently, I get the berry first), and that does say Mosaic to me. The hop flavors are much brighter than the aroma would suggests, but again, this is a fairly old sample. I'm finding notes of orange, pine, mango, papaya, blueberry, red berries, and light nectarine. I have no problem calling it an IPA despite its strength because it's pretty intense. The malt is basic, and acts as a stage for the hops. The bitterness, however, is fairly solid, perhaps because there's not really that much sweet malt there to balance it. It's quite dry in the finish with some fruitiness and then spicy pepper lingering. It seems like there are some grassy hops there as well. It's medium-light in body and crisp. Looking back, the head retention was very good and it's left some very nice lacing about the glass. I think it's quite nice in the end, and to a certain extent fairly original.

Review# 6,460

 

 

Hazy golden color. Small head that settles quickly and completely. A few streaks for lace.

The smell leans to the malt, surprisingly. Slightly sour with a mild white pepper bite for hop.

Biting hop that cuts into any "white" wheat flavors there may be. Mild sourness with the bitterness cutting this in the swallow. Long aftertaste.

 

 

 

16 oz. can

Pours hazy cloudy gold with a creamy white foam head. Smells like berries, peach, mango, melons, orange citrus, grapefruit, some peppery spice, wheat, with floral earthy herbal grassy pine. Tastes like dark berries, peach, mango, honeydew melon, orange citrus, grapefruit, peppery spice, wheat, with floral earthy herbal grassy pine. Feels medium-light bodied, creamy with moderate low carbonation. Overall a nice Mosaic hopped white IPA.